


A Tale Untold

by hiddencait



Category: Cinderella (Fairy Tale)
Genre: F/M, Fairy Tale Retellings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-24
Updated: 2013-12-24
Packaged: 2018-01-05 22:26:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1099295
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiddencait/pseuds/hiddencait
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>She didn't meet the prince.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Tale Untold

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sundaydriver](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sundaydriver/gifts).



> Sundaydriver actually requested two other fandoms that I had actually matched on, but as soon as I saw the prompt for Cinderalla, I knew I would have to do it. I love fairy tale retellings, and the chance to change Cinderella's fate was just too much for me to resist.
> 
> Oh btw, one of those other requested fandoms was North and South, featuring the extremely handsome Richard Armitage - I couldn't help but write him into the story. Hope you enjoy it, Sundaydriver!
> 
> Also, this has not been betaed, as my usual ones were already celebrating and/or on vacation. I have editted it, but any errors that remain are all my fault. Be kind if you find one!

They wouldn’t let her in. Ella could scarce believe it, but the Majordomo had been firm in his refusal to allow her entrance into the palace. Apologetic, perhaps, but firm.

 

Even so, the news hurt like a blow. At least, she clearly had not been the only shut-out, or so she realized as the Majordomo edged her away to tend to the next guest waiting behind her. To the left of the exterior stairs was a line of liveried servants, the closest of which was waving her over.

 

“You will find refreshments and entertainment in the gardens. Their majesties apologize for the… disappointment you might feel and any inconvenience that could not be avoided.” He smiled, and it seemed to be genuine, so Ella nodded and smiled shyly back and went where he directed. The gardens were beautiful, and had she not been so disappointed, she might have been able to enjoy them. As it was, Ella found herself wrapping her arms around herself in despair and half trying to hide in the shadows, wondering what her fairy godmother would say if she saw her now.

 

“Gods, what do I do now?” she heard herself whimper, and hoped no one else had, as well.

 

“That dead set on becoming royalty, then? You can’t imagine another future than one with a prince who decided he couldn’t be bothered to see all of you and just shut the door in your faces?”

 

Ella glanced up at the tall soldier who’d come to stand beside her, taking in the officer’s stripes and his dark hair and light eyes. Had it been any other night, she might have enjoyed the look of him, but she feared her heart was too heavy.

 

“You… It is not what you think. I just will never have another chance at freedom,” she said softly, wondering that she even dared say that much.

 

“Freedom? Married to a prince? Trust me, lady, such a wife has-” His mouth snapped shut as Ella, spying her stepmother and stepsisters suddenly darted back deeper into the shadows, pulling him by his jacket until he stood between her and her family, hoping she’d moved fast enough to avoid their gaze. “What in the world?” he asked, half laughing. Ella knew she flushed scarlet but could not help it.

 

“My… my stepmother. She should not see me here.” He raised his eyebrows and she colored further. “I received an invitation. I did! I had a right to come.”

 

“But she forbade you. I see.” Ella doubted it, but she allowed him to say so. He tilted his head to study her, and then blinked and narrowed his eyes. “Forgive me, lady, but I swear I know your face. Are you Master Bennett’s daughter? I commanded a guard on one of his caravans several years ago, and I believe I saw you at his house.”

 

She thought of her father and fought back the grief anew. “I am Ella, as you say. My father is dead.”

 

“I know, and I was sorry to hear of it. He was a good man.” His eyes narrowed again, and he glanced over his shoulder as if seeking the sight of someone. “But why does Master Bennett’s only daughter and heir fear loss of freedom and hide from her step-mother’s eyes?” he asked.

 

Ella hesitated, and then laughed recklessly. She had already told this soldier too much, but he seemed to be listening, truly listening. He might, against all odds and what her step-mother had told her, believe her. “Because I was not his heir. He left everything to Madame. He was not even cold in the ground before my things, my place were taken from me. I was lucky, she said, that she would allow me to stay on in her house. I’ve a room in the attic now, but I am most often in the kitchen as it is warmer.”

 

“Show me your hands, lady,” he told her, and obediently she held them out to him. He removed her gloves and lightly traced her palms, feeling the calluses that even her godmother’s magic could not mend, the calluses that only came from hard work.  

 

As he studied her hands, she found she could not stand to watch his face so close to hers. She looked past him to the garden party and the swirl of figures and color out on the lawn. It would be a scandal if any of the many chaperones noticed she and the soldier huddled so close in the shadows. It was no matter, come morning, she doubted anyone would remember the young woman in the silver dress and crystal shoes. No one but her soldier, perhaps. Finally, he released her hands, and helped her back into her gloves.  His eyes held sorrow and an anger she hoped was for her sake, and not for a mere maid playing at being a lady.

 

“So you have been made a servant then. Do the other servants of the household not help you? They at least would remember…”

 

He trailed off as she shook her head sadly. “There are no more servants. Madame decided to just stop paying their wages, and one by one they had to leave. Then there was only me with no way to escape or refuse. She’s my guardian, you see. Even if I ran or somehow found a way to wed, she could drag me back. Legally it is her right.”

 

“So you came here at word that the prince sought a bride, because who else could flaunt the law and her claim so easily,” he concluded for her, and she nodded. He hesitated and the spoke again. “But, lady, how did you come here? A servant would not be garbed as you are.”

 

This time it was Ella who hesitated, worrying her lip with her teeth as she wondered if she dared to tell him. He had believe her thus far, but magic was another thing entirely. Finally she shrugged to herself – either he would think she spoke truth or he would not.

 

“I have a fairy godmother. I did not know until she appeared, but it was she would clothed me as I am.”  His lips twitched at her words, and she felt sure he thought her mad. “You do not believe you. I can hardly blame you.”

 

He smiled like he had a secret and shook his head.

 

“I believe you, lady. I do. Someday I shall have to tell you the tale of my father’s rather… remarkable cat.”  She blinked, confused, but he did not elaborate. Instead he turned to survey the party grounds and seemed to come to a decision before turning back and offering his hand. “So, lady, I am no prince to free you from your step-mother’s house, but you are here, and I think you should enjoy your ball while you have the chance. Yes?”

 

She followed his gaze and bit her lip. This would be her only chance to have such a night. Ella finally nodded and laid her hand in his. He smiled down at her.

 

“Will you honor me with a dance, lady?” She nodded, and he began to lead her toward the impromptu dance floor on the lawn. She suddenly hesitated, pulling back against him.

 

“I must be home by the stroke of midnight. I must or…”

 

“Or the spell will fade?” he finished, and she nodded. “Then on my honor, lady, I promise I will have you back to your carriage well before.”

 

Ella looked up to search his face and slowly nodded at what she found there. Then he led her back into the lights and music of the ball, and for a while, she allowed herself to dream.

 

Richard, as he told her was his name during their first dance, was true to his word and saw her safely back to her carriage before the stroke of midnight. The spellbound mice and rats got her safely home, and she found her godmother waiting eagerly as she stepped out of the carriage and hurried into the house.

 

“Well, how was it my dear? Did you meet the prince?” Her godmother’s voice was excited and giddy as she helped remove the magic from Ella.

 

“No,” she said softly, and smiled. “I think I might have met someone better.”

 

Her godmother’s smile broadened, and she nodded once. “I thought you might. It seems I owe a certain someone a pan of milk or two.” She pulled Ella into a warm hug and then kissed her forehead. “I would wish you a crown, but my dear, I think you would not have been comfortable beneath it. So instead, I will wish you hope and freedom.”

 

Ella smiled back. “That will be enough, Godmother. That would be enough.”

 . . .

 

The prince of the realm married by  morning, and everyone agreed he had a beautiful bride, though somewhat vapid, poor child.

 

Ella was back to work the moment her stepmother and stepsisters returned, helping them out of their gowns and spending hours to press the gaudy things before she could finally seek her bed. It was with a lighter heart at least – as her Godmother had wished, she had found something to hope for. Whether Richard ever appeared to seek her hand or not, _someone_ had recognized her plight. That mean others might, as well.

 

She was not surprised that the soldier did not appear the next day, or the next, or the week after. But during those days, a concerned citizen began to make anonymous inquiries into the matter of the Bennett estate and the master merchant’s surviving daughter. Her stepmother had been outraged anyone would dare to challenge her, but to Ella’s surprise and delight, many people turned out to be willing to do so. When her father’s will was discovered hidden in Madame’s safety deposit box and it was discovered that _Ella_ and not Madame had been the proper heir to the estate, both neighbors and merchants alike came forward to testify as to Madame, Dulcinea, and Sacharissa’s treatment of Master Bennett’s daughter.

 

After the court case was concluded, Ella found herself mistress of the hall, and Madame and her daughters found themselves in the work house. Unfortunately, there was not much left to the hall as Madame has been steadily selling off her late husband’s belongings to pay her bills, but it was still Ella’s and that was enough. Her old housekeeper Mrs. Treble, and Goodman the gardener both asked to return, and soon Ella discovered a knack for bargaining just like her father.

 

It was only then, when her fortunes were clearly on the rise and she no longer needed anyone to rescue her, that the eldest son of a certain cousin of the King, one who had scandalized the nation the day she wed the youngest son of a miller, re-appeared into Ella’s life seeking the honor of her hand.

 

Along with his mother’s ring, Richard brought with him a kitten wearing little leather boots. Ella was sure she had not laughed so hard in her life.

 

She said yes to the question of marriage, but insisted it was only so she might keep the kitten. Mrs. Treble later said Richard didn’t even seem to mind.


End file.
